ROG Reveals Inspirational Rory Best Story That Proves He’s The Man For The Irish Captaincy

by Jason Hennessy ·
Published January 22, 2016
· Updated January 22, 2016

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Ulster and new Ireland captain Rory Best has got the ROG seal of approval.

If there was any doubt as to why Joe Schmidt has picked Rory Best to take over the captains role from Paul O’Connell, Ronan O’Gara has put it to bed in his Irish Examiner column today.

ROG recalled an incident a few years back when Best was rated as highly doubtful for a Six Nations game due to a shoulder injury.

Best however was not going to let an AC joint injury stop him from playing, and pushed himself well past the normal human pain barrier to line out for his country.

“It’s probably five or six years ago he was sidelined for a period with a serious AC joint problem. The medical team with Ireland estimated a six-week lay-off, whereby Rory reminded them he had a very high pain threshold.

“I’ve a fair ability to take pain,” he whispered. A front-row scrummaging forward remember, with a busted AC joint, played a week later. Obviously the joint was in bits, and I suspect will never be the same again.

“When you are in Irish camp, the medical staff occasionally might show you scans, certainly some of the senior players, for education and understanding. It was like black and white — “this is what Rory’s AC joint looks like and this is what it is meant to be like.”